Last year I attended a school reunion (for the first time !) ... thanks to the encouragement of a good friend from school days. The lunch included a tour of the school. While it was fun to catch up with some of my old school mates ..... I was very impressed by the fantastic new facilities, not the least of which is an art gallery that has been set up in one of the old boarding houses!

The gallery is the Grace Cossington Smith Gallery at Abbotsleigh on the Pacific Highway at Wahroonga and was established in 2013 with the intention of providing an on-site educational resource for the School. Opening the gallery to the public provided the opportunity to engage with a wider community.

This year that engagement has led to .......

I am delighted that one of my art quilts will be included in this exhibition, not only because it is associated with my old school but also because of the connection to Grace Cossington Smith after whom the gallery is named. Grace was also an "old girl", one who lived and worked for many years in the same area of Sydney where I grew up and whose work, especially during the 1950's and 1960's, is an inspiration!

In this period " Grace Cossington Smith came to realise her aim: to express form in color - color within color, vibrant with light" Grace Cossington Smith: A Retrospective Exhibition, National Gallery of Australia 2005.

If you haven't come across her work it is well worth a look. One of my favorites is 'Interior in Yellow' 1964 ...... google it!

The 2005 Retrospective Exhibition biography by Deborah Hart concludes with the following observation .....

" It is ultimately Cossington Smith's steadfast resolve to be true to herself in her art, to experiment and evolve at her own pace, revealing a depth of feeling for the world around her, a sense of adventure and a faith in the spirit underlying all things - ' the golden thread running through time' - that makes her one of the most brilliant artists of her generation."

Something to strive for!